Last week on October 11th at the Bluebird Theater, I was fortunate enough to sit down with a couple of members from one of our favorite groups, The Magic Beans! Fresh off the road to play a hometown throw down, I was really excited to sit down with these boys and listen to what they had to say. Check it out!
Compose Yourself Mag: This is Shelby Mehdinia with Compose Yourself Magazine sitting down with drummer Cody Wales and Casey Russell, keyboard and vocalist from The Magic Beans. You guys just finished up with sound check – how did that go?
Cody Wales: Sounds good.
Casey Russell: Perfect! Everything’s on point.
CYM: Is it looking like a sold out show this evening?
Casey: That’s the word on the street, but we never know until we hit the stage.
CYM: Have you headlined the Bluebird Theater before?
Casey: I think it’s our third time headlining.
Cody: Third times a charm.
CYM: You’re freshly back from tour, can you tell me about it?
Casey: We did! We hit the east coast we went up to Vermont, Boston, New York City and a bunch of other places around their and we went to the Midwest and hit Chicago and Carbondale Illinois.
Cody: Can’t forget Michigan!
CYM: Ending your tour in Colorado?
Casey: Yes, ending in Colorado we just got home last week, so we had a week to chill at home and now we get to do this big hometown show with a bunch of people here supposed to that not always happening on the road. Then we are off to California.
CYM: What will you guys be heading up to Cali for?
Casey: We are doing a four day run out there, then two days Hangtown Halloween Ball, Railroad Earth’s music festival.
CYM: I’m sure that will be a good one, I’ve always heard great things about Hangtown. I’d like to ask both of you who originally inspired you musically?
Cody: Growing up my dad was a drummer, so drum sets were always around; I kinda just thought playing drums was something you were supposed to do!
Casey: My dad was also a musician, so I always have the same story as him *points to Cody* whenever anyone asks us about our inspirations. It’s pretty much whoever answers first.
CYM: On another topic, can you guys tell me about your beer, and if you’re selling it tonight?
Cody: Oh yeah, our beer! Unfortunately we won’t have it here – it’s a small release, we sold it at our last show at the Mishawaka through O’Dell. You can go to the brewery or anywhere their kegs are served and get it.
Casey: That’s our second beer and it’s a hundred barrel system; they don’t bottle it or anything.
CYM: Who decided what it was going to taste like?
Cody: We were all there except for Casey actually.
Casey: Our good friend Austin, who works as a packager there got us into it. Every once in a while they’ll do a beer with a band, or just like, every employee there will do one brew, one time on that same pallet system that we did. We were a part of the first one he did, and then he asked us to do another one, so that was really cool.
CYM: I love it. It’s a very refreshing beer. Can you remind me the name?
Casey: Adonde Mate Pale Ale. We brewed it and then put mate in afterwards. The first beer we did was a coffee IPA, so we put coffee in there.
CYM: It’s awesome you guys are so involved with Colorado, even with the local craft brew community. Is the whole band from Nederland, Co?
Cody: I’m the only one from there, actually.
Casey: I’m from Minneapolis, where our guitarist Scott is also from, and our bassist Josh is from Florida. We all met in Colorado though.
CYM: How did you guys find each other?
Cody: Through CU and just jamming together.
Casey: When I moved from Michigan to Colorado, it happened to be into a house with Scott and Hunter, our former mandolin player. Then we all lived in a house in Nederland and it came to be from there!
Cody: I was just quitting a band and they needed a drummer.
Casey: And we were partying at festivals together – we can party professionally. [Laughs]
CYM: Are you guys going to play “Sexy Pizza” tonight?
Casey: “Pizza Baby”?
Cody: …Laser lady!
Casey: Yeah, I think it’s ‘Pizza Baby’, a song about partying naked.
Casey: That’s a Josh Applebaum song though so we will have to ask him!
CYM: Definitely a favorite of mine! Saxton is doing your lights tonight, right?
Cody: Yep!
Casey: Saxton’s back, he did one show for us at the Fox and crushed it – that night was just awesome. He’s one of the best there is and totally takes it to the next level. His main job is doing lights for Sound Tribe. He’s awesome – super nice guy and really seems stoked to be on working with us too.
CYM: Anything you guys want to add?
Casey: Yes! We are excited to be playing in Denver again after playing so many shows away from home. It’s fun to be able to do a home town show, and we hope everyone comes out and has a good time.
